- Examine the theme of immunity in Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare
- Shed light on the concept of “summer's day” as regards Shakespeare's poem
- What is the thematic preoccupation of the poet in Sonnet 18?
- Explain the use of metaphor in Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare
- Discuss the changing mood of the poet in “Sonnet 18”
- How relevant is the use of metaphor in Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day?
- Give a detailed justification to the title of the poem Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day
Showing posts with label Shakespeare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shakespeare. Show all posts
Wednesday, 14 June 2017
- June 14, 2017
- samueldpoetry
- naijapoets analysis, Non African Analysis, Shakespeare, sonnet 18, William
- No comments
Detailed Background
What experience led to Shakespeare’s creation of this poem? What reality is in Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare? How does the poem’s background and setting reflect our present environment?
William Shakespeare wrote many sonnets during his lifetime and Sonnet 18 is one among the popular which might be as a result of the varying circumstances surrounded the poem. Almost his sonnets held similar subjects such as love, life, death, beauty, etc.
This could result from the fact that those subjects were very much in vogue among writers and artist of his era considering the poem of Christopher Marlowe “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” also reflected love. Sonnet 18 is a poem directed towards the poet’s heart of love to someone else (a feminine). The works of William Shakespeare sent a vivid message to the readers showing that the poet was a very emotional person. This reminds me of a movie about the poet titled “Shakespeare In Love” where the poet who acted as a playwright in the movie and was seen busy writing a love poem to impress her newly found lover named Viola de Lesseps; the movie “Shakespeare in Love” was released in the year 1998.
Shakespeare married at the age of 18 as recorded by many articles about the poet and his wife name Anne Hathaway who had three children for the poet. To answer the question of what led Shakespeare to writing Sonnet 18, many research has viewed the sonnet as a poem directed to another lover different from the poet’s wife since Shakespeare was a very famous poet of his time and having a secret lover might not totally be a false assumption. What reality is in the message of the poem? The reality in the poem can be linked to the common nature of human attractions which are mostly propelled by outward beauty and material possessions.
Connotative Explanation
Humans are bound to get attracted to someone’s oblivion and by so doing they seek medium to express their attraction the same way as Shakespeare embraced the use of a sonnet as a means of expression but the words of the poet are considered too far from reality as he highly immortalized his addressed lover. In the present society we live, civilization has brought many better ways of expressing love than the use of sonnet. Nowadays, lovers use television, radio, mobile phone, internet chat, and many more as medium of love expression. Season and time still have effect on lovers till date, many lovers still channel their romance towards summer, winter, not to mention popular festive seasons.
The subject matter in the poem “Shall I Compare Thee to A Summer’s Day” (Sonnet 18) is about the beauty possessed by a lover which the poet considered immortal. Shakespeare compared the outward appearance of the lady or woman in discuss “to a summer day” as seen in line one of the poem. He mentioned the great qualities of the lady not excluding her flaws via the description of the summer season. Summers are lovely, moderate but sometimes harsh and short live. Feel free to [VIEW DETAILED EXPLANATION>>>] .
The dominant poetic device in the poem is metaphor where the whole subject of love, beauty and death are compared to a summer season. It will not be quite wrong to say that summer in the poem is a symbolism broadened with the use of metaphor. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” in line 1, the attribute of the summer extended through the poem from where the summer is “more lovely and more temperate” in line 2 down to where the summer qualities of the lady will overcome death. Feel free to [VIEW DETAILED EXPLANATION>>>].
Structurally, the poem “Shall I Compare Thee to A Summer’s Day” by William Shakespeare is a sonnet. Sonnet is a form of poem that originated from Italy which has a total of fourteen lines that follows a strict rhyme pattern. Most Shakespearean sonnets end with rhyming couplet and “Sonnet 18” is not an exception. Sonnet 18 has the following theme namely the theme of love, the theme of immortality, the theme of immunity and check [VIEW DETAILED EXPLANATION>>>]
Likely Questions:-
Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings flying)
Tuesday, 16 June 2015
- June 16, 2015
- samueldpoetry
- 18, Chat, compare, Non African Analysis, poet, Shakespeare, sonnet, summer, William
- No comments
As we cherish and praise William Shakespeare for his sonnet 18, let's not forget Giacomo da Lentini, also known as Jacopo (il) Notaro, an Italian poet of the 13th century, who invented sonnet.
Like most of the 154 Shakespearian sonnets, sonnet 18 was also speaking of love. That is why the theme of love, the theme of immunity and the theme of immortality can be found in the poem.
Some new generation pupils might find it hard to understand the language of the poem because it's archaic. We refer to it as the Elizabethan English; except for those familiar with the old king James Version of the Holy Bible.
The language of this sonnet is said to be the simplest in comparison with other Shakespearean sonnets. The tone is calm with an optimistic mood of assurance.
Let's look at the themes:
The Theme Of Love:
Shakespeare revealed his love through the image of beauty, simplicity and certainty. He compared his lover to "...a summer's day?/ thou art more lovely and more
temperate" (line 1 and 2) because those qualities of hers, he cherished.
The Theme Of Immunity:
What is Immunity? The state of being insusceptible to something of having strong resistance. Few of the things human being cannot resist are death, aging, etc. Shakespeare made readers to realise in Sonnet 18 that his lover was immune to aging and death. From line 3-8, he wrote how summer, sun, flower, etc. come and later die or disappear; starting from line 9, he told the readers that his own lover will neither grow old, lose beauty nor die.
"But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,"(line 9-11)
The Theme Of Immortality:
"When in eternal lines of time thou grow'st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."(line 12-14)
The poet made us to know that his lover will live forever as far as men live and eyes continue to see things written because he has immortalized her with this Sonnet 18; that's the power of poetry.
William Shakespeare (April 26, 1564-April 23, 1616) was 52 years old before death. An English poet and writer, he married Anne Hathaway with three children.
Like most of the 154 Shakespearian sonnets, sonnet 18 was also speaking of love. That is why the theme of love, the theme of immunity and the theme of immortality can be found in the poem.
Some new generation pupils might find it hard to understand the language of the poem because it's archaic. We refer to it as the Elizabethan English; except for those familiar with the old king James Version of the Holy Bible.
The language of this sonnet is said to be the simplest in comparison with other Shakespearean sonnets. The tone is calm with an optimistic mood of assurance.
Let's look at the themes:
The Theme Of Love:
Shakespeare revealed his love through the image of beauty, simplicity and certainty. He compared his lover to "...a summer's day?/ thou art more lovely and more
temperate" (line 1 and 2) because those qualities of hers, he cherished.
The Theme Of Immunity:
What is Immunity? The state of being insusceptible to something of having strong resistance. Few of the things human being cannot resist are death, aging, etc. Shakespeare made readers to realise in Sonnet 18 that his lover was immune to aging and death. From line 3-8, he wrote how summer, sun, flower, etc. come and later die or disappear; starting from line 9, he told the readers that his own lover will neither grow old, lose beauty nor die.
"But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,"(line 9-11)
The Theme Of Immortality:
"When in eternal lines of time thou grow'st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."(line 12-14)
The poet made us to know that his lover will live forever as far as men live and eyes continue to see things written because he has immortalized her with this Sonnet 18; that's the power of poetry.
William Shakespeare (April 26, 1564-April 23, 1616) was 52 years old before death. An English poet and writer, he married Anne Hathaway with three children.
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